Northern Rock was established as a building society in 1965 and became a bank (and a plc) in 1997. It has forged ahead to become the 8th biggest bank in the UK and the 5th biggest residential mortgage lender.
Northern Rock made headlines in September 2007 when an emergency Bank of England loan arrangement affected its savers' confidence. A prompt guarantee from the Treasury helped the bank avert a crisis and many of its customers have returned.
In Feb 2008, the Government announced its intention to take Northern Rock into temporary public ownership.
So despite the global credit squeeze, Northern Rock mortgages are still on offer. Popular deals include the Lifetime Mortgage for over-60s, and a full range of buy-to-let mortgages.
Our suggestion: speak to a mortgage specialist to find out if Northern Rock's revised deals are best for you, or if another lender might be even more competitive.
More information on Northern Rock mortgages...
Most of Northern Rock's existing mortgage customers have fixed rate deals so are unaffected by the following changes. However, when these deals expire it expected that many will shop around and see if competitors have come up with better rates.
There have been a number of changes that will impact new mortgage customers:
Since October 2007 Northern Rock is no longer offering a range of different rates for different loan to value (LTV) ratios. Instead it will offer one rate for all loans of up to 95% of a property’s value.
The bank has removed its enhanced income multiples for fixed rate mortgages of 5 years or longer. Northern Rock is now offering mortgages of between 2.8 times and 4.9 times your salary (depending on your credit rating and how much you earn) on all its mortgages.
Despite these changes, Northern Rock said rates on its fixed and variable rate mortgages remained unchanged on a like-for-like basis.
We recommend that the best way to find out if Northern Rock (or any other mortgage/lender) is suitable for you is to speak to a mortgage specialist. By filling in our mortgage form you will get a free call back with expert help and a competitive quote with no strings attached.
If you prefer to call rather than fill out the form online, call 0845 408 2602 (24 hrs) to speak to an assistant.